Way back yonder in yesteryear, there used to be long checklists that a person could follow and have a very good chance at SEO success. Now with all these whippersnappers at Google using their fancy AI and crazy long scrabble words like multivariate testing many of those SEO checklists are about as useful as a dial up modem. So here is a new SEO checklist to help you rank in 2017. This checklist is a combination of my experiences and the Ranking Factors white paper at Search Metrics [searchmetrics.com...] You should head over and read that research for yourself. Remember that correlation is not that same thing as causation but it is a good starting point in figuring out how to do SEO in 2017.

1) Focus on relevant content. Keywords are less important and valuable ideas are more important.

2) Switch over to HTTPS. If you are an e-commerce you should already be on https. If you aren't an e-commerce site you still should use https because you are likely losing valuable analytics data.

3) Favor usability over keywords. When writing headlines & titles, think about what will entice & engage users. Google is now smart enough to ignore keyword stuffing and pay attention to user engagement.

4) Pretty & professional appearance. Back in the old days we used to say ugly sites make money. Now it is about being pretty & professional. Users have many options and will abandon ugly sites. Abandonment means no chance of gaining backlinks, user generated content and many other benefits that increase your SEO value.

5) Mobile Matters. Your entire site should be mobile friendly. Your most critical pages should be manually fine tuned for the best performance. Google is paying attention to slow sites and other usbaility problems. Even if Google didn't care, good usability leads to more conversions & profits.

6) Get a third opinion. You probably think your site is perfect but it isn't. No site is perfect. Do usability testing or ask fresh people to candidly review your site.

7) Prioritize social correctly. Its called the world wide web because it is all interconnected. Social does play a part in SEO success but it is not the linchpin of SEO success. Social can help build brand awareness and buzz about your site which can lead to traffic & backlinks. Don't ignore social but don't overly obsess about social.

8) Focus on forward links and avoid backlink worries.Sure there has been a bunch of publicity about negative links and scary Penguin.penalties. Most of the time Google ignores bad links. It is probably best for your situation if you work on developing new backlinks. Boosting real links from traffic generating sites will also make you less dependent on Google. Think along the lines of classic marketing & promotion to develop forward looking partnerships with traffic generating sites.

9) Speed matters, speed scores don't matter. When you visit a slow website, do you patiently wait or do you leave? This is why you want a very fast website. Don't worry about the free speed tools that grade your webpage. Even Google's speed grading tool has flaws. Worry about real speed that your user experiences. Happy users lead to more conversions/usage/backlinks/etc.

10) Be unique. Google's AI is looking for unique & useful sites. Users are looking for unique & useful sites. Business partners are looking for unique & useful sites. Differentiate yourself. If you are offering something basic that is on 100 other sites you are not going to survive. The water level has risen in the SEO pool and if you don't want to drown you better to learn to swim better.

Google is like a crazy ex-girlfriend with a jealous streak. The more you make your site popular to others without involving Google, the more Google will want to send you traffic. The more you desperately beg Google for attention, the more Google will withhold attention from your site. Build up business relationships to make your site non-dependent on Google and enjoy :)